One day I will drop this robe
of flesh. I will sing farewell, farewell,
sweet hour of prayer, when He takes me home to glory. What a blessed, blessed day that
will be. Now turn again in your Bible
to Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1. And my message is taken this
morning from verse 29 down to verse 49. And you'll be able
to follow this outline very, very easily. Let me give my four
points to you this morning, first of all. We see in verse 30, here's
the first point, what to do in time of trouble. What to do in
time of trouble. They told the Lord about the
sick one. Secondly, Christ heals perfectly
and completely. Verse 31, she rose up and ministered
to them. Here's the third point, the importance
of prayer. Verse 35, the Lord went out early
in the morning, rising up, and went out and prayed. If he who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, sought opportunity to pray. And we're going to read
in Scripture, you'll see this. How much more ought we to pray
first thing in the morning, last thing in the day, and through
the day. Man ought always to pray unto
the Lord. Now here's the fourth point.
Here's the fourth point. The importance of preaching.
The importance of preaching. It says in verse 38, he said,
let us go into the next town that I may preach there also.
And he said, for therefore came I forth. The importance of preaching. Is it important? When we gather
together and worship, what's to be the center part of our
worship service? Preaching. Preaching the gospel. Now let's look at these four
points separately. What is the first thing we should
do in trouble? The first thing. Notice verse
29 and 30. When the Lord came from the synagogue
and entered into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and
John, their partners, they were fishermen together, and Simon's
wife, mother, He was married. He was a married man. He lay
sick of a fever. And at once they tell the Lord
about this woman who was sick. Now understand this first of
all. Peter's close relationship to
the Lord did not exempt him or his friends or his family from
trouble and sickness. Now Peter was a faithful, faithful
servant of the Lord, and following the Lord. Yet he experienced
great trouble, sickness, and sorrow. You remember what Job
said, man that's born of woman? Does that include everyone here? Man that's born of woman, unless
you believe in evolution, then I guess you've got something
else, but no one here believes that. Man that's born of woman,
few days, full. of trouble. Do you know anything
about it? Our Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah
53 is called a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, grief,
grief. The Apostle Paul, hold your place
there and find 2 Corinthians 11. The Apostle Paul, God's faithful
servant, called and gifted and blessed in so many ways. Yet
this man experienced daily heartache, toil, and trouble like we know
nothing about. 2 Corinthians 11, look what it
says in verse 24. Of the Jews five times received
I forty stripes, save one, five times beaten with a whip. Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned. They drug
him out of the city as a dead man. Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day have I been
in the deep, cast out in the ocean, in journeys often, in
trouble of water, in trouble of robbers, in peril, trouble
of my own kinfolk, my own countrymen, in trouble by the heathen, the
infidel, in trouble, in the city, in the wilderness, in the sea,
and among false brethren. Trouble, trouble, trouble, in
weariness, painfulness, in watching, often in hunger, thirst, fasting,
often in cold, and nakedness. Trouble, trouble, trouble. As long as we live in this flesh,
mark it down, Trouble. Trouble. Trouble. Trouble. Expect
it. Expect it. Here's our hope though. Here's our hope. Find John chapter
16. Peter went home and his mother-in-law
was sick. Had a great fever. Couldn't get
up. Couldn't walk. Trouble. Trouble.
What are we to do? Well, we're not exempt from trouble.
John 16. Look at verse 32, Our Lord said, Trouble is coming.
John 16, 32, Behold the hour cometh, yea, is now, that when
you shall be scattered. Talking about Him going to the
cross and trouble coming. Every man to his own, and shall
leave me alone, yet I am not alone, because the Father is
with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you
might have peace. In the world you shall have trouble,
but be of good cheer. It won't last long. Our light
affliction worketh just for a moment for us, an eternal and exceeding
weight of glory. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. I have overcome. I have overcome. That's our hope. Christ rules
all things. But we are subject to trouble,
subject to trial. The second part of this first
point is this, what are we to do in a time of trouble? Look what the disciples did,
back in our text, Mark 1, verse 30. Look what the disciples did.
At once, they told the Lord about this woman. They tell him of
this woman that was sick with a fever, Peter's mother-in-law. They told the Lord quickly. This
is the first and best thing to do in all cases. When trouble
comes, cry out to Him. Cry out to Him. You see, He's
touched with a feeling of our infirmities. He knows what it
is to be a man, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. I want
you to find Hebrews chapter 4. Look what He says right here.
And the instruction He gives us right here to tell hymn of
our heartache. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14, look
what it says here. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
He knows what it is to have a body of flesh. Although he had no
sin, yet he was a real man. but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace." You see, we tell Him. Let us come
boldly with liberty, freedom to the throne of grace that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, turn just a page back to
Hebrews 2 verse 18. For in that he himself has suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted."
That word there, succor, means to aid, means to assist, it means
to help, it means to sustain. He is able. Isn't this a precious
promise? What a privilege God has given
to us to pray unto our Lord and to call upon the Lord. So the
first thing we're to do in trouble? Let's call upon the Lord. Take
your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Now this doesn't mean
that we should not use the means God has provided for us. There's
no contradiction between faith and means. The first thing we're
to do is to call upon the Lord. Ask Him to intervene and to intercede
for us. But when you get sick, call upon
the Lord. And if you need a doctor, well,
use the means that God has provided. Go to the doctor. When you need
legal help, call upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, and if need
be, go hire an attorney. You see, there's no conflict
between faith and means. If you're sick, you call upon
the Lord, but if that sickness remains and he doesn't heal,
you better go see a doctor. God has ordained that as a means
to healing. That's right. When you need help,
call a friend. Say, pray for me, pray with me,
come over here and help me. But remember the first thing
is to call upon the Lord. I'll give you a good example
of this. Turn to John 11. Remember the family of Martha,
Mary? They had a brother named Lazarus.
Lazarus was sick. And eventually he died. But look
what they did here. John chapter 11, verse 1. Now a certain man was sick. named
Lazarus. He is of Bethany, the town of
Mary, and her sister, Marcia. The Lord loved this family. They
were believers. They were following the Lord.
It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with the ointment and
wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
You see, being a believer doesn't exempt us from heartache and
trouble. Therefore his sister sent unto him saying, Lord, behold,
he whom thou lovest is sick. What did they do first? They
called for the Lord. And when the Lord heard that,
He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Lazarus
did die, but you know what happened? The Lord raised him from the
dead. And all this happened that he
might be glorified. So what do we do in trouble first? Call upon the Lord. and He shall sustain thee. He
shall never suffer. He shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved. Cast your burden upon the Lord. Now, I'll give you a couple of
other scriptures on this. Turn to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians
chapter 4. We've recently studied this and
read this, but some of you weren't there on the Wednesday night
service. But Philippians chapter 4, verse 6. Well, let's read verse 4. Philippians
4, 4. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say rejoice. Let your moderation, your kindness,
your love be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful
for nothing, but in everything, don't be overly anxious, but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. Call upon the Lord. David said,
I cried unto the Lord and He heard my cry. What do we do in trouble? Turn
over here to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5. We call upon the Lord. 1 Peter
chapter 5, look at verse 6. Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon Him,
He cares for you. He cares for you. So that's the
first point. They told the Lord of their trouble
at once. First thing to do in trouble
is call upon the Lord. Secondly, what a complete and
perfect cure the Lord Jesus makes when He heals. Back in our text,
look at verse 31. And He came and He took her by
the hand, lifted her up. He lifted her up. That's what
He does for us. He lifts us up out of the dust
of deadness of our sin. He lifted her up and immediately
the fever left her. And she was strengthened and
she ministered unto them. What a complete and perfect cure
the Lord Jesus makes when He heals. When He heals, He heals
completely. The fever not only left her,
but she arose and served them. Now all of you have experienced
being sick and having a fever. I've been so sick with a fever
that I could not make a fist. Just completely weak. But even
when the fever leaves, it still leaves your body just zapped,
doesn't it? But the Lord so completely healed her that she showed no
effect of being sick. And immediately the fever left
her and she got up and went about serving the Lord Jesus Christ. He healed her and strengthened
her as well. You know what this is a picture
of? This is a picture of our spiritual healing by the Lord
Jesus Christ. He leaves nothing half done or
nothing undone, unfinished. He heals us. When He heals us,
He heals us completely. God who begins a good work in
you, He will complete it. He will perfect it. He will perform
it. The Lord not only forgives all
our sin, but He also gives us renewing daily grace. Remember
what we read? The outward man is perishing,
but that inward man That inward man, that new creation in Christ
Jesus, that spiritual nature we have is renewed day by day. We grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're not merely forgiven and
left alone. He gives us all things in salvation. He gives us life and then He
strengthens us. He causes us to grow in grace
in Him. Our Lord said, I'll never leave
you. I'll never, I'll never forsake you. Christ is our surety and
sacrifice. His blood continually cleanses
us from all our sin. Christ is our mediator. He is
representing us. We have one God and one mediator
between God and men that is the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, He heals us, but He
doesn't leave us alone. He saves us, but He doesn't leave
us alone. He said, I'm with you always,
even to the end of the earth. He's our mediator representing
us. He's our advocate pleading for
us. Right now. Advocating for us. Mediating for us. He said, when
you sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ,
the righteous. He is the captain of our salvation,
fighting for us, representing us. We are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us. He is our Redeemer, delivering
us from all our sin. How does He do this? Hold your
place there and find Matthew 8 and look at this carefully. Matthew chapter 8. How does He
do this? How does He deliver us from all sin? Look what it
says right here. And this is the same story that
is given by Matthew as we just read in Mark chapter 1, but look
at verse 16. When the evening was come, Matthew
8, 16, they brought unto him many that were possessed with
devils, and he cast out the spirits with his word. and healed all
that were sick." Look at verse 17 carefully now. "...that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet,
saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses." He
took our sin in His own body on the tree. Our Redeemer delivering
us from all our sin. Our great High Priest interceding
for us right now at the Father's right hand. He ever lives to
intercede for us. Therefore, He is able to save
us to the uttermost. He is our Great High Priest.
He is the Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd providing all things
for us. You see, He not only saves us,
but He strengthens us. He never leaves us alone. daily
ministering to us, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? He provides all things, He shall
supply all our need according to His riches in glory through
Christ Jesus." You see, He heals perfectly. He saves us with a
perfect salvation. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me, as David said in Psalm 138. Now here's the
third point, look at this here carefully, verse 35 back in our
text. And in the morning, rising up
a great while before day, he went out and departed into a
lonely place. And there he prayed, he prayed,
he prayed. The importance here of personal
prayer and devotion. He prayed unto the Lord, unto
his Father. Our Lord said in Luke 18, 1,
men ought always to pray. I remember reading years ago,
someone wrote that prayer is a very light breath of the believer. Pray, praying unto God. The apostle
wrote this to the Thessalonians, pray without ceasing, and in
everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus. You remember in the conversion
story of Saul of Tarsus, when the Lord told Ananias to go down
to the house, a certain house, and there's one there in that
house named Saul of Tarsus, and Ananias said, oh yeah, I've heard
about that guy. You know what the Lord said to him? Behold,
he's down there praying. God made this man a different
man by His grace. If our Lord, who is holy and
harmless, undefiled, prayed always, how much more Do we need to pray
unto the Lord? Now let me show you some scripture
about the Lord and His prayers for us. Luke chapter 3, turn
over there. Luke chapter 3, verse 21. At His baptism, look
what it says here. Luke 3, 21. Now when all the
people were baptized, He came to pass that Jesus also being
baptized and praying, the heavens were opened. Praying. Our Lord
is a man of prayer. Turn over to Luke 6, 12. Luke
6, 12. Turn over there. Before he ordained the twelve
apostles that night, It came to pass, verse 12, that he went
out into the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer
to God. And when it was day, he called
his disciples, and of them he chose twelve, and he named them
apostles." He prayed all night about it. Turn over to Luke 9. before He
was transfigured, showing and manifesting His glory. In Luke
9, verse 28, it came to pass, about eight days after these
things, He took Peter and John and James and went up into the
mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the fashion
of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and
glistening. And behold, there talked with
Him two men, which were Moses and Elijah. who appeared in glory
and spake of His crucifixion, His death, which He should accomplish
at Jerusalem. They were concerned about Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. In Matthew chapter 14, don't
turn, I want you to turn to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14,
but in Matthew chapter 14, after He fed the 5,000, He went up
into the mountain and prayed. In Mark 14 in the garden, Mark
14, 32, and they came to the place which was named Gethsemane.
And he said to his disciples, sit here while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter
and James and John and began to be sore amazed and to be very
heavy. He saith unto them, My soul is
exceedingly sorrowful unto death, tarry ye here and watch. And
he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed
that if it were possible the hour might pass from him. And
he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee. Take
away this cup from me, nevertheless not what I will, but I bow to
your will. Pray, pray, always pray. Our praying Lord can have no
prayerless servants. Mark it down. To be prayerless
is to be Christless and Godless and on the road to destruction. What of those who pray little?
Our Lord said, asking little, they must expect little. Turn
over to Matthew 7 and look at this. Praying always unto the
Lord. You know what he says? Ask, and
it shall be given you. Matthew 7. I'm going to ask.
I'm going to ask big things. Because our God, He is great,
and He's over all things. Look what he says in Matthew
7. He said, Ask, and it shall be given you. I'm going to ask. Sinking you shall find, knocking
it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that sinketh findeth. To him that knocketh it shall
be opened. Keep on knocking, keep on sinking." What he's saying
here. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son asked bread,
would you give your son a stone if he asked you for a loaf of
bread? You wouldn't do that. Or if a fish, would you give
him a bug? No. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children, how much more shall your Father which
is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" I'm going
to ask. I'm going to pray. What of those
who pray little, asking little? They must expect little. It will
always be found when prayers are few, faith is weak, strength
is small, and hope will be diminished when praying, when our prayers
are few. We are to ask God. I want you
to look at this scripture. James chapter 1. And I pray this
myself, personally, all the time. Because I feel like I'm so lacking
in this area. James chapter 1. I ask the Lord
for wisdom. and wisdom in understanding His
Word, and wisdom in leading His people and pastoring this flock.
I ask for wisdom. Look what he says here, James
1 verse 5, if any of you lack wisdom, I certainly do, let him
ask God that giveth to all generously and upbraideth not. and it shall
be given him. But let him ask in faith, not
wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind, and tossed. Let not that man think that he
shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is
unstable in all his ways." Ask the Lord for wisdom, for strength,
for help. Now here's the last point. Back
to the text. Verse 38 and verse 39. We see the importance of personal
prayer, and we see the importance of preaching. Our Lord puts much
emphasis upon preaching, doesn't He? Look what it says in Mark
1, verse 38. And He said unto them, Let us
go into the next towns, that I may preach there also. That's
why I came, to preach the gospel. You remember in the same chapter,
verse 14? Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God. Preaching, preaching, preaching.
He said, that's why I came. Verse 39, and he preached in
their synagogues throughout all Galilee. Cast out, cast out devils,
demons. The importance of preaching,
preaching, preaching. Our blessed Lord was a faithful,
truthful preacher of the Gospel God sent. The King of Kings and
Lord of Lords was himself a preacher. God said, I'll raise up a prophet. among the brethren, and I'll
bless him with my word, and he will preach all those things
I give him." And the Lord Jesus Christ, He did. He is that preacher. He left the realms of glory and
took upon Him our flesh, apart from sin, to do the work of an
evangelist. A traveling preacher. And that's
what He did. On foot, and by donkey, all over
that area, preaching the gospel. He came to declare peace with
God in Christ Jesus. He came to make peace for us
by His sacrifice for sin. Turn to Luke 4 and look at this.
Preaching, preaching, preaching. The importance of preaching.
That's why we center the whole major part of our time in our
worship service around preaching. That's what this ministry is
all about, preaching the Gospel and teaching His Word, the Gospel
of Christ. Luke 4, Luke verse 18. The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach
the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach, preach deliverance to those who are held captive.
Recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised. Verse 19, to preach acceptance in the ear of the
Lord. Acceptance in the Lord. What an honor the Lord of glory
puts upon the office of a preacher. Almost every hour of every day
in his ministry Up until the hour of His sacrifice, and then
even upon the tree, He was preaching the gospel. You remember what
He said upon the tree? Those seven sayings, in those
seven sayings, He's preaching the gospel. And the last thing
He said, it is done. It is finished. And He healed
up the spirit. Let us never be moved away from
the importance of true gospel preaching. The importance of
preaching. Never absent yourself from the
preaching of the gospel. Now, let's notice how important
it is. I want you to find 2 Timothy
4. 2 Timothy 4. How important is
it? Is it necessary? Oh, absolutely. God has ordained the preaching
of the gospel to the calling out of His people. Now notice
what it says here, 2 Timothy 4. These are the last words of
the apostle as he sits in prison, ready to be executed for the
gospel, for the preaching of the gospel, and he writes back
to young Timothy, and this is what he says. Verse 1, 2 Timothy
4, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the living and the dead at the appearing of his kingdom,
preach the word. Preach the word. Christ is the
word. Be instant. in season and out
of season. Always preach the word. Reprove,
rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine, and we are in
that day. But after their own lust shall
they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and they'll be turned
in, turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things,
endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist, and make full
proof of thy ministry." Preaching, preaching, preaching the Gospel.
The most important part of our worship service, what we do right
here, is preaching and teaching of His Word, the Gospel. How
important is it? Preaching the Gospel. Well, the
Apostle said this, Woe is unto me if I do not preach the Gospel. By preaching, let me give you
several things, I'll let you go. By preaching the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the church of Christ was called together
at Pentecost. And all through the book of Acts,
we've studied all the way through the book of Acts, and what did
all those disciples do when they were persecuted and they were
scattered everywhere? They went everywhere preaching
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. By preaching the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's the power of God and the salvation.
By preaching the gospel, sinners are awakened and quickened with
the gospel. If you care for your family,
and your children, and your neighbors, and your community, do all you
can to put the gospel before them. Invite them. Give them
a tape. Give them a track. Do what you
can. By preaching, sinners are awakened of his own will, beget
he us with the word of truth, being born again, not of a corruptible
seed, but of an incorruptible seed by the word of God by which
the gospel is preached unto you. God has ordained preaching to
the salvation of his people. By preaching, saints are established
and built up in the faith. No more being tossed to and fro
and carried about by every wind of doctrine. They're established
and rooted and grounded in the Word. Therefore, when others
come along with another gospel, we're not swayed. To those who
are perishing in their sin, preaching Christ crucified is foolishness. But to those who are saved, preaching
Christ and Him crucified is the power of God, the wisdom of God,
and the glory of God. Many despise the preaching of
the gospel of God's grace in Christ. God have mercy on us
if we do. The apostle wrote this to the
Thessalonians, despise not preaching. Despise not preaching. Now let
me give you this, in a way of a disclaimer. The preacher may
be weak and sinful, and feeble. Paul said, I was with you in
much fear and weakness and trembling. I would not exalt the preacher,
especially this one, but I would exalt the message. I would exalt
the means that God has ordained. He has ordained this, what we're
doing right now, to the salvation of His people. God help us if
we make little of it. I would exalt the means God has
ordained. Now this is what our ministry
is all about. teaching and preaching His Word. Verse by verse, line by line,
here a little, there a little, as someone rightly said, you
cannot improve upon what God has already said. Do you know
what preaching all boils down to? It's just repeating what
God has already said. It's just one beggar telling
another beggar, where he found bread. The Lord is that bread. That bread. Well, I pray the
Lord will bless those words to your heart and you can look